1-Bowl Pumpkin Bread (V + GF)

This bread has been a long time in the making.

I posted about it weeks ago on Instagram and have since tested it a few more times to perfect it. The first attempt yielded moist, flavorful bread that was a bit too crumbly. The second attempt seemed hopeful, but it failed to remedy that problem once again. Third time was a charm! I think I’ve nailed it.

So excited to share this simple 1-Bowl Vegan AND Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread with you guys!

It starts with the vegan miracle – flax eggs.

And then an additional natural binder: mashed banana. I’ve found that banana binds otherwise crumbly baked goods when they’re both vegan and gluten-free. Even though it’s the tiniest bit detectable in the overall flavor, the texture is spot on and the pumpkin and pie spices really shine through.

When you bake this up, two things happen:

1) Your house will smell like pumpkin heaven.2) Dancing will ensue when you peer inside the oven and see how beautifully it rises and turns deep golden orange in color.

Huzzah! But you must, and I repeat, must, resist the urge to slice in right away. Let it cool completely before slicing or it can be a tad on the crumbly side.

In testing this recipe several times, I’ve eaten more pumpkin bread than any human should in one month. But, surprisingly, it was all so delicious it didn’t wear on me one bit and I even struggled to give the last loaf away to friends. That’s how good this bread is!

This is the perfect bread to make for fall parties, Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving, pumpkin carving, or just to have on hand for a snack on chilly days. Picture this: You, chai latte, pumpkin bread, oversized sweater, stretchy pants, a book. HEAVEN.

If you give this recipe a try, please let us know! We loving hearing about what you make and enjoy. If you do, be sure to tag a picture #minimalistbaker on Instagram so we can check it out. Cheers and happy baking!

Add oats, almond meal, and gluten-free flour blend and stir. If it appears too wet, add in another couple Tbsp of oats or GF flour blend. It should be semi-thick and pourable (see photo).

Scoop into loaf pan and top with raw pepitas (and/or pecans).

Bake for 40-47 minutes or until deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let set in pan for at least 20 minutes and then gently transfer to a plate to cool.

Let cool completely before slicing, preferably several hours. Otherwise, it can be a bit crumbly.

Also, slice gently, as it’s rather tender.

Once cooled, store in a covered container or cover with plastic wrap at room temperature to keep fresh. Freeze after that to keep fresh for up to one month.

Notes

*My go-to GF flour blend*If not GF, sub a mix of whole-wheat pastry flour and unbleached all-purpose for the GF blend. Start with 1 cup and then add 1 Tbsp at a time as it can be more absorbent than GF flour.*Nutrition information is a rough estimate.*Adapted from my V/GF Carrot Apple Muffins

Hi,
Can I use applesauce instead of bananas for the binding?
Also, Dana, I’ve made the gluten free carrot cake & it’s amazing.
I now have a ready supply of your gluten free mix for baking when I want something gluten free. It’s so much better than most of the junk they sell.

Hi Emily, that should work! Or you could also just leave it out! And maybe scale back on the flours since there will be less moisture. This is how we made the first batch and it honestly turned out AMAZING! It was just a little on the crumbly side. If you’re OK with that, go ahead!

I made this last night with 1/2 cup of brown sugar instead of 3/4, cardamom since I don’t have pumpkin pie spice, and about 4 oz. of bittersweet chocolate chips mixed in at the end. Came out beautifully and very tasty! I love the texture the oatmeal adds.

This pumpkin bread is amazeballs! Yes I said amazeballs! The texture is light and fluffy and the flavor is perfect! It does not taste vegan or gluten free (if that makes sense lol). Thank you for delivering another amazing recipe!!

falling apart and too crumbly……I love all the recipes on this blog so much so that i went ahead and made three of these breads last night. Ready to share with friends and clients (i’m a personal chef). However, the final result was beyond crumbly. i not only let it cool several hours, but overnight. I attempted to cut it this morning, with caution and tenderness, but every piece just falls apart making impossible to present to anyone. Also, the pumpkin flavor does not really come through…i used the canned pumpkin puree from Whole Foods. I guess one question would be in the recipe, the formula given for a flax eggs is confusing…is that for one egg OR is it for what is called for in the recipe 1 1/2 eggs. In other words, is the flax egg quotient in parens the total to be used or do you need to do that 1 and half times? I’m not sure if that would solve the crumble problem. all this being said, do you have another pumpkin bread recipe that does not suffer the crumble/falling apart issue? i have no problem with regular eggs so i could try that. i would really love a go to pumpkin bread recipe and i have come to rely on Minimalist baker for all my baking recipes now…because i love you so much!!!! any advice would be much appreciated so can get this to a ‘client ready’ state.

NYT has an amazing brown butter bourbon pumpkin bread, but it’s hard to adapt to vegan/GF. So I checked to see if Dana had a pumpkin bread, and sure enough! Jackpot. I added some elements from NYT, including reducing water to 1/4 cup + 1/4 cup bourbon. I also added 1/2 tsp ginger and 1/2 tsp cardamom. On my own accord, I also added 1/8 tsp allspice and 1/8 tsp nutmeg because I can’t get enough fall spice. I subbed the olive oil with almond butter, so the dough is a little tackier but that’s ok. My only regret is I didn’t stir in cranberries. Just another reason to make this again!

This was delicious! I used 2 regular eggs, unbleached AP flour versus gluten-free, and the almond flour as instructed. Did not have pumpkin pie spice so used a tablespoon more pumpkin purée and extra cinnamon, along with some nutmeg. Thanks! <3

I made donuts! I omitted the pumpkin seeds and the pecans because I knew I was pouring the batter into a small donut tin. Yes, they came out a little “muffiny” and not quite as sturdy as other donuts I’ve made. They are delicious though. I made a vegan cream cheese glaze to dip them in and it leaned them further toward donuts and less towards muffin. I also made your pumpkin ice cream and kind of hoping the donuts that didn’t get glaze get stale and then I’m going to slice them in half and make pumpkin donut ice cream sandwiches!! Thanks for the inspiration and guidance.

I have literally never made a comment on a food blog, ever. I had to break that streak to say how delicious this is. I made it with coconut sugar in place of brown sugar (didn’t have brown sugar on hand) and whole wheat flour rather than GF, but otherwise followed the recipe as written. I didn’t expect much as I haven’t had the best luck with vegan baking, but OH MY GOODNESS!! This recipe is perfection. Thank you!

This turned out SO yummy! My hubby is recently GF and neither of us could even tell it tasted any different to similar wheat flour recipes.

I subbed applesauce for the mashed bananas because I didn’t have any and wanted to keep the ratio of wet ingredients the same. I also subbed 2 small eggs for the flax eggs and cranked up the spices (clove, nutmeg, ginger). It all came together beautifully. We *barely* were able to wait until it cooled!

Super impressed! Turned out really tasty! It took almost an hour in the oven, but it’s possible that it’s because of our oven or because of substitutions (I used Bob’s Red Mill GF flour instead of making the flour mix). Not sure. Either way, it turned out really great!

Hey! I love so many of your recipes! I am making the pumpkin bread as we speak and I was wondering why you use baking soda instead of baking powder? I have been getting interested in the science of cooking/baking and looking up why we add vinegar and what is the difference between bs and bp. Well they say you should use an acid with the soda. Is there an acid in the bread? I’m curious who not use powder which already has the acid mixed in. Plus soda can leave an aftertaste if not balanced. I”m sure you have an answer for this because your recipes are always yummy!

Made this today and it turned out PERFECTLY. The texture is SO ON POINT! I used about 1/2 the recommended syrup and sugar and added a lot more pumpkin spice + cinnamon. The flavor is perfect. Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe. I’ll be making it again!

I am gluten free and egg free and I made this with egg replacer, doubled the recipe and included a one whole ripe banana and a splash of vanilla and it was HEAVENLY!!!! You would never guess it was gluten-free. Thank you so much for sharing!

I love this recipe and have made it several times. I find that for a double recipe I use a 9 x13 baking pan (glass) and it cooks more evenly, and I don’t have to worry about burning. If I am making a single recipe I use an 8 x11 pan. Thanks again for the great recipe.

I just made this after my roommate made it and I only got to try a crumb. Hers was a bit dry and quite crumbly, but mine turned out extra moist, almost underdone (even though my tester came out clean). She used a gluten free blend of her own that used coconut flour, which I think is the reason hers turned out so dry. In mine I used honey (my honey is pretty thick), coconut sugar instead of brown, and Bob Mills 1-for-1 Gluten Free Baking Blend. I baked at 375 for 40 minutes. I accidentally used 1/3 c oil, but I caught it before I mixed, so I carefully took out the extra. I don’t know if that affected it. I may have put a tiny bit too much banana? I don’t know! It’s still DELICIOUS! Just kinda gooey. At least I know it’s not uncooked eggs!

Made this today and loved it! I worked with what I had at home, replacing the flaxseed with chia seeds and the maple syrup with agave, using an unsweetened apple & banana sauce instead of the mashed banana, topping it off with a nut and seed mixture originally made for salads. I also reduced the brown sugar to 1/3 cup. It needed 55 minutes in the oven and turned out absolutely delicious!! Thank you :)!

I made this and followed the recipe to a T but left it in the oven for 52 minutes and it was still like… not cooked whatsoever. Completely raw glob of batter in a super dark crusty shell with burnt pecans on top :/
the flavor is good though

Hi there, this looks yummy! If I’m adding vegan protein powder to the recipe for an added boost, should I decrease the gf flour by the amount of protein powder I add or just add the dry protein to the recipe above? Also, since I’m allergic to almonds, what’s a good substitute for almond meal? I’m looking forward to trying this out!

I’ve been making pumpkin bread for years from my mom’s old Joy of Cooking book, and I’ve slowly been editing the recipe (less sugar, changing it to gluten free when I was diagnosed celiac, etc). This weekend I was going to a party at a vegan friend’s house so I decided to try this recipe instead of doctoring up my previous recipe even more. It turned out AMAZING! I have never been disappointed by any of your recipes, Dana, and this one is no different! I am definitely going to replace my old tried and true pumpkin bread recipe with this one.

Made it! Yummy! But I subbed sprouted rice flour for the almond meal due to my almond sensitivity, and somehow it ended up crumbly. Maybe my measurements were imprecise. What do you recommend as a sub for almond meal?

Hi Lindsay! You could sub the almond meal for a mixture of extra oats and gluten free flour blend. Or, sub ground seeds, such as pumpkin seeds! If you can have other nuts you could also try subbing a nut meal like walnut or pecan. Let me know how it goes if you give it a try!

So incredibly DELICIOUS! Made it yesterday and made it again today for an event tonight. This will be my go-to pumpybread from now on. Thank you!
I just have one question, I’m using all of the ingredients as listed in your recipe, does the finished bread need to be stored in the refrigerator or how long do you think it can be left out at room temperature? Thanks in advance!

PS I’ve made so many of your recipes and each one was a winner, I haven’t met one that I’ve disliked or my family has disliked. We’ve raved about them all! Thank you for providing easy, wholesome and nourishing recipes that are fun to cook!

Hi Dana
I love your blog!! Thanks for all the great recipes. I am wondering what I can use in place of the oats because my daughter has celiac and right now we are not doing oats even gluten free oats until her blood test comes back normal. Then we will reintroduce the oats? Should I put more almond flour? I hate to add more gf flour blend as the almond will be more nutritious.
Thanks for any advice.
Donna

Made this with all-purpose, organic flour instead of gf flour, scaled it to 1 cup instead of 1 c + 1 tbs–turned out absolutely perfect. Moist, dense, but still a little fluff! I do love traditional pumpkin bread but I was SO happy to have something I could feel good about eating any time of the day :P didn’t last but a day! Will have to double batch next time :)

I just made this pumpkin loaf today and it will be, from this point forward, one of my go to recipes!!! The pumpkin flavour is awesome, dense enough to have as a snack and feel satisfied. I love it!!!!!

I made this on Sunday and it tasted DELICIOUS.
However the texture was a bit off..it came out a little too moist and ‘heavy’ in the centre..I left it for longer (1hr) but I wonder if I should have left it even longer or should have added more baking soda as someone suggested.
I baked it in a round pan because I didn’t have a plum cake one…could that be the cause?
Any tips?
Thanks a mill!!!

I just made this yesterday, and it’s delicious! A few subs – I halved the maple syrup (2 T) and used 1/3 cup of coconut sugar in place of 2/3 cup of packed brown sugar. In addition, I increased the mashed banana to 1/4 c (4 T). The loaf was plenty sweet; I suspect if we waited several hours for the loaf to totally cool that it would be less crumbly (but who can wait that long!). Next time, I’m going to bake this at 350°F and see if it’s a bit less brown on top.

My husband loves this…little does he know how healthy it is. I used one 15oz can of pumpkin and doubled the recipe. A few changes -used 1/2c unsweetened apple sauce and one mashed banana, oat flour rather than rolled oats, and pastry/whole wheat flour rather than GF and a bit more water for that semi-thick/pourable batter. Delicious and moist. Thanks, will make again and again.

I’ve been dying to try out this recipe and finally came around to making it! I subbed the GF flour for plain all-purpose and omitted the almond flour because I didn’t have any on hand (I think I used about 1 cup and 1/3 of regular flour overall to compensate). I also added a 1/3 tsp of baking powder because these recipes always come out a little to dense for my liking. Unfortunately, the top of my loaf was burnt after about 38 minutes in the oven. My oven’s temperature may be too hot in general, but next time I’ll probably lower the temp to 350. Had to scrape off the top, but the texture and flavor was still amazing!! Will definitely experiment more on this recipe.

Ok this was perfection!! I just want to say that I never realized that eating gluten free vegan would be so tasty! I made this for my daughter who has Celiac Disease and is vegan-the whole house smelled like beautiful holiday cooking. The recipe was so easy to follow with pictures etc. And I could not find potato starch so I used as the flour blend Amy’s Artisan Flour and let me tell you this loaf held together, was moist, and so delicious. The pecans and pepitas on top really added to the flavor. But I just loved the recommendation you made on using parchment paper as an alternative to greasing the loaf pan. I have never done this and will for now on, It came out of the pan easily. I love, love this recipe. Will be following you and making other recipes-you obviously have taken great time to develop amazing recipes!!

I recently came upon this blog because of Pinterest, and I am beyond thrilled. I started out with her pumpkin pancakes which turned out delicious, and I was so happy with those I searched her blog for curry recipes. I took bits and pieces from both yellow curry recipes and it turned out divine. I loved the idea of adding fresh mango and cashews. Today I baked your Pumpkin Bread! Ahhh! I made it to share but I am keeping 2 for my husband and I. Bananas weren’t ripe yet so I subbed apple sauce. Keep up the good work. What a treasure to stumble upon this blog. Thank you for doing all the leg work and repeating making the recipes until you get them just right. You have made my life easier and more delicious. IF I am going to go to the trouble of cooking, it’s nice to know it is going to turn out great. Three for Three now.
-Teresa

Now this is the best freaking bread i have ever tasted!! Its just like my grandmas syrupbread, but with an extra pumpkin-y touch! 100000/10 recommending to everyone and will do over and over and over again! It was simple and easy adjustable, i cant wait til im not as full anymore so i can eat even more!

So so excited to find a gluten, corn, soy, dairy free Pumpkin bread recipe. The Trader Joes box mix had been one of my favorite foods ever…and Now I’m eliminating inflammatory foods from my diet. That you’ve come up with this concoction for “our” benefit, I give Many many thanks to you!
This recipe is Great! What I like about it. It’s dense/heavy. It’s super moist! Its texture is perfect. It’s well-structured. What can be even better: Less banana taste
and perhaps more pumpkin purée to hold the contents together. Crunchy hard top. I think the banana also prevents this from happening. Not sure. I’m open to hearing your thoughts. I too will make this again and again again. I am over the top grateful!

the pumpkin bread turned out perfect. I only used the maple syrup (1/4 c– no additional sugar. Substituted shredded coconut for oats. Used coconut water instead of “water”. Added dates to batter. Used Avocado oil instead of olive oil. Did not use almond flour just gluten free Namaste flour. Used flax seed eggs. However, I cooked the bread for 35 minutes (I think my oven runs hot – would use 350 I think instead of 375).

I love your recipes. Im not a great baker in general and we have a few strict vegan and gluten free folks in my family. I have made the coconut berry muffins, chocolate cherry muffins and they were delicious and now this pumpkin bread for a potluck . Its baking now but im sure it will be good. Thank you.

This disappeared so quickly that I didn’t have a chance to take any photos, which is half the fun for me in baking. Vegans, non-vegans and even the gluten tolerant in my family loved it!

Since I didn’t have the flours in your mix, I calculated the weight and substituted 70% whole grain to 30% white starches (hat-tip to Shauna James Ahern for that ratio). I left out the syrup as it was quite sweet and used a chai blend instead of pumpkin pie spices.

Truly excellent for such a humble little bread. I will be making this again.

Curious if anyone can recommend a sub for banana in these types of recipes. My little one and I are severely allergic to banana which is so often used in vegan, GF baking. Can’t do gluten, dairy, soy, or eggs either. If the banana is acting as a binder would chia or extra flax work?

Another winner recipe! I was skeptical about the use of water instead of non-dairy milk but the end product is delicious nonetheless. I omitted olive oil and instead used mashed bananas. Also I guess because of that my mix didn’t need that much flour, so I used half the flour the recipe suggested. The pumpkin flavor was not very prominent because of the amount of banana I used so the next time I will put more pumpkin puree. Thank you for making being vegan so easy and delicious!!

This. Recipe. Is. AWESOME!!! I topped it with some dairy free chocolate chips and it is the absolute best! By far this is the best use for my almond pulp, not to mention an amazingly dense and moist, super pumpkiny pumpkin bread. Thank you so much for this.

Thanks for perfecting this recipe! I absolutely love this bread. It is sweet, but not too sweet. It also has just the right amount of moisture. I find that many gluten free/vegan breads are too dry but this is perfect. I have tried many of your recipes and am always extremely happy with the wonderful unique flavors, while keeping the recipes simple, healthy and mostly vegan/gluten free. It’s about time I expressed my gratitude for your blog!

I never get tired of pumpkin. But I am VERY tired of looking for recipes that I can have, as directed by a Registered dietician: apparently, I am wheat intolerant but also, of all things, “chemical sensitive,”
This means that all foods with wheat but ALSO, containing these things are going to make me very sick:
sodium metabisulfite, solannine, tyramine, potassium nitrate, acetaminophen, and FD&C #4.
Add garlic, grape, and buckwheat and I am now starving.

Can you help me find a place that has recipes like yours? and would you consider an email subscription if you do. I am seriously desperate.
Thank you

I am in the middle of making 5 loaves and they have been in the oven now for 70 + minutes and still raw in the middle. I seem to be having this problem a lot lately with other vegan, gf recipes, I am using a standard size loaf pan and I followed the recipe exactly except I used honey instead of maple syrup. What could I be doing wrong?

This recipe is amazing!!! It turned out so well :) And I’m presently thoroughly enjoying a slice. I didn’t add the banana (didn’t have any on hand) and it didn’t turn out crumbly. I subbed oats for quinoa flakes and it has turned out more than perfect. Thank you so much for this awesome recipe!

So yum! Made this for my roommates and I today. Didn’t have almond flour so I added 1/4 cup each of oats and gf flour. It worked out pretty well, the only thing is the oats were a little chewy. Still loved it

I love the idea of a pumpkin bread with oatmeal in it, so thanks for sharing this recipe! That said, I don’t think this one is for me. I had trouble getting the middle cooked through and left the loaf in longer than stated, but the outside was beginning to burn. I made it as written, and I think I agree with another comment about the banana — for me it changes the profile of the bread. The one place where I deviated from the recipe was to substitute for the pumpkin pie spice (I followed the suggested subs in the comments) and that was a bit to aggressive for me — I prefer a more subtle spicing in a pumpkin bread. This bread was plenty sweet — if I were to try to make it again, I would try cutting back on the sweeteners.

Thanks for this wonderful recipe! I definitely need to try again, to more closely follow your recipe, but I’m thrilled, because I know it will be delicious! The modifications I made were: 1 chia egg instead of 1.5 flax eggs (all I had on hand), 1/3 c regular sugar (no brown sugar on hand, and the less added sugar the better!), for pumpkin pie spice I had to use the spices already in my cabinet, so nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and allspice in a mix that added up to 1 tsp, and finally for the gluten free flour blend I used a pre-made mix (Trader Joe’s brand). My results were: DELICIOUS! Not very sweet at all, which I enjoy. Pumpkin and spice flavors come through wonderfully. Quite crumbly, but nothing that bothers me! I am thinking the .5 egg I left out could have made a big difference. Also, I might add a little more banana since I left out sugar and that will sweeten and bind at the same time. I don’t notice a banana flavor as of yet, so it could stand some more! Excited to try again! Love that this is gluten, egg, and dairy free!!

This recipe came out awesome…can’t wait to taste it this evening! As I was baking, I was wondering if you’ve tried with different size loaf pans (i.e. 2 smaller 7″), or muffin pans, & if you figured out baking times accordingly…thinking this would be great for kids’ holiday class parties (i.e. Thanksgiving!) thx in advance for any advice/suggestions :)

Just to let you know…made the loaf. Awesome. The next week, I tried the muffins…made 24, greased pans beforehand, & baked for about 25-30 min…awesome! Think I like them better than the loaf! So thx so much :)

Hello! I already know this will taste amazing as your recipes always do, but I was wondering if this recipe would work if I used it to make muffins instead? If it does, do you think it would drastically increase the calories/fat etc?
Thank you! xx

Wow!!!! I am a terrible baker, and the gluten free recipes I make are usually awful. They are usually too thick, too runny, or just bad. I am gluten, dairy, and egg free. This recipe was easy to follow and turned out amazing!!! I’m so glad I made this. Yum!!!!

So amazing! I cut the sugars in half again, added more cinnamon and pie spice, and also added walnuts. Decided to sprinkle raw sugar, chia seeds and hemp hearts on top with more walnuts— turned out SO good! thank you for giving us such a great recipe!

This looks delicious, but what I’m searching for is a simple vegan pumpkin bread recipe that’s as close to the “real thing” (aka what my non-vegan dad loves) as possible. Could this be made non-GF, or do you any other recommendations? Might I just replace eggs with flax eggs and maybe some other binding agent in the recipe I’ve always used? I’m desperate to prove to my dad that his childhood fave can be veganized.

Hi Dana,
I’m Katcy from Thailand. Just follow you in couple days. I try to cook and bake some diet menu or healthy food. I love your food and thanks for your recipe. I made yesterday it’s really YUM. :))x

I made this yesterday afternoon, and it was so hard not to gobble up the whole loaf as soon as I retrieved it from the oven. I tried to wait several hours, but after around 2 I called everyone to dessert. Oh my goodness is no more. I horked down 2 slices and wanted a third. I’m having more for breakfast.

Hi,
Can I use almond flour instead of almond meal? Are they virtually the same thing?
Also, do you think if I add a few scoops of vanilla protein powder to the batter it would change the taste of the bread?

This was one of the first recipes of yours that I tried and it made me fall hard for your blog. Since then I’ve tried a bunch of other stuff, but I also just started my own blog with the help of your resources and with your photography course… although I still think my photos need some work :D

I subbed coconut flour for almond flour and added a bit more water and oil, the batter was a lot thicker than yours. I know coconut flour requires more liquid be added. How much more water and/or oil would you recommend if using coconut flour? Also I used a gluten free all purpose baking mix instead of gf flour andbaking soda. Cooked for 47 min and texture was doughy. Suggestions? Thanks!

I made this tonight. It was very it was very impressive. What disappointed me was the texture which was pretty gritty and crumbly. I usually have such good luck with my Minimalist recipes.
I think I’ll probably make them as muffins next time to avoid being concerned about the crumb lines.
Also, I might do less oats and more oatflour, and less gf flour and more almond flour to get a smoother taste. I’ll let you know how it goes

I love love LOVE your recipes! I’ve been making your chocolate chip oatmeal pancakes for over two years now. They always seem to find a way into my weekends. :) Anyway, I really want to make this because it just looks way too yummy to pass up! I was wondering–what size bread pan did you use for this?

WOW! Finally a pumpkin bread that is moist, fluffy, springy and flavorful … not a flat, dense brick. I have tried for many years to create something I miss so much since being gluten and egg free due to sensitivity, but have not had success. I bought armloads of unusual ingredients only to have another experiment fail. Your trials have proven this recipe to be delicious.
I made it without banana (didn’t have one), and almond meal, but added a bit more GF flour & pumpkin. It is very pumpkin flavored and the texture is perfect. Flax eggs were new for me and I think it’s a new golden key to my baking! Thank you.

Hi! I love your recipes! I have made this one twice and am having a bit of trouble getting it to taste pumpkin. I have used more pumpkin puree, more cinnamon, more pie spice, and then added all spice and nutmeg, and it is still missing something! Any ideas?

I just like mixing! For both texture and flavor purposes. Maple syrup is expensive, so I try and use it sparingly. But if you use all maple syrup, just add a little more dry ingredients (like GF flour) to compensate. And if you use all brown sugar, compensate with a little more water. Hope that helps!

Thank you. I actually tried it both ways, with brown sugar & all maple syrup. With adjustments for sweetness & wet/dry ratio. The brown sugar one had a touch more moisture, but I’m the only one who noticed. Happy baking. Love pumpkin :) Going to do it again with some sweet potato, to up the fiber ratio & sweetness.

This sounds like a great recipe for our gluten free, egg free dairy free family.
However, we are also sugar free. Would I be able to leave out the brown sugar and use stevia?
Thanks, I love your website!
Lil

It’s worth a shot! I’d say use a little more maple syrup if you can, and then use stevia to sweeten. Adjust the texture as needed, adding more almond milk to thin, and GF flour and almond meal to thicken! Good luck! And be sure to check back with the results. I’d love to hear how it goes.

Hi Dana! I found your website a few weeks ago and as someone who is very conscious about what they eat but has an insane sweet tooth, your website has been very helpful and inspiring.

I work at a coffee shop and my boyfriend is OBSESSED with the pumpkin spice loaf there but I know how much rubbish its probably packed with so I want to surprise him by baking your version at home. Quick question though, I have no idea what flax eggs are and I can’t get pumpkin puree or pumpkin spice where I am, therefore, can I just use regular eggs (neither of us are vegan) and just buy and cook and pumpkin then mash it for the puree?

Sorry if these are silly questions but I’m new to baking! Thanks again :)

Was reading the comments to see if my questions had already been answered (so I wouldn’t have to ask them), and saw your comment. I believe I can help there.

1. In a reply to another comment, Dana suggested two small eggs or one large one instead of the “flax eggs.” Having tried the same substitute in her amazing banana bread recipe (which is quite similar), I can assure you it works well.

2. When making homemade pumpkin puree, it may turn out watery, which affects recipes that use it. It’s best to cook down the extra liquid or strain it through a fine cloth to get the consistency down to the level of solid-pack canned pumpkin. But if you do that, it’ll work just about the same as canned pumpkin. (If you’ve never worked with canned pumpkin, it might be difficult to know what the consistency is; I recommend watching cooking videos that use it to try to get a feel for the consistency.)

3. You didn’t specifically ask about a substitute for pumpkin pie spice, but if you don’t put in a sub your bread won’t be as flavorful. For a teaspoon of spice (as the recipe suggests), I’d recommend half a tsp of cinnamon, an eighth of a teaspoon each of ginger, allspice, and nutmeg, and a dash of cloves. Or if you don’t have allspice you can just put an eighth of a teaspoon of cloves, or if you don’t have cloves just use the allspice and forget the cloves.

4. Just to be on the safe side, rolled oats (aka “old-fashioned oats) are different than “instant oats” or “quick-cook oats.” If you buy some for this recipe, I heartily recommend cooking any leftovers as oatmeal using the package directions. You’ll be amazed at how much better they are than instant oats.

5. I don’t actually have a fifth bullet point, but I thought I’d tell a bad joke: What’s black and white and red all over? My graded term paper.

“I Ain’t” – I LOVE your super-helpful response to Kate Isaac’s questions! Personally, I only really needed your first bullet point (although, the 4th was a good refresher for me too), but I really enjoy it when commentators add a lot of helpful information to a recipe! Thank you for your insight!
Dana – I haven’t been in much of a baking mood lately, but I have been in a pumpkin, pumkin all the time mood lately, and so many recipes that claim to be “pumpkin” only have pumpkin pie spice in them! Where’s the puree?? Oh, here it is, on minimalistbaker.com. I’m definitely going to be trying some of the recipes I’ve found here today & signing up for your emails!!

This pumpkin bread! Ahh. I can’t get over the perfection. I can never seem to make my GF quick breads rise beyond 1 inch. So yes, I’m so stoked to try this recipe! It’s just too much brilliance.
Pinning for now! (:

This looks delicious and i’m sure i’ll be dancing too smelling the pumpkin aroma drift though my house :) although i’m so not a vegan baker and when you said flax eggs i had to read it twice, I guess i’ll be asking the health market what the heck flax eggs are :) Nice to meet you at chopped

I love making bread in the fall! In fact, I just whipped up a pumpkin brioche the other day. But I have been meaning to make a banana bread but couldn’t decide on a recipe! Thanks for having perfect timing!

I made this twice and my batter comes out so thick. I don’t know what I am doing wrong. I am using Bob’s Red Mill all purpose baking flour. That is the only difference. What can I add more or less of? It still comes out tasting GRAET!

This looks wonderful but I have a question. I was thinking about preparing this for my son’s 4th grade class party this Friday morning because the breakfast needs to be GF, V, and….. nut free. Is there any way to adapt this to be nut free as well or is there another recipe that you would suggest? Thanks!

It isn’t perfect, but I think you could sub the almond meal for a mixture of extra oats and gluten free flour blend. Or, sub ground seeds, such as pumpkin seeds! Hope that helps! Let me know how it goes if you give it a try!

My 6 year old son is adamantly vegetarian by his choice, I’m very picky about ingredients and make most things from scratch, and my husband will eat anything from anyone. Thank you so much for your recipes and the hard work you put into them. They are perfect for our (eclectic?) family! I’m making your fall pot pies for dinner tonight!

I am a pumpkin bread junkie; I’ll eat it any time of the year for any occasion. This recipe looks like it has just the right amount of moisture and it’s definitely got that perfect pumpkin bread color!

This looks amazing! I was so excited – until I got to the bit about banana. Let’s say, hypothetically, you were cooking this for a household that contains a coeliac, two vegans, and someone allergic to bananas (for a total of only two people, but we’re quite high value, restriction-wise) Er, any useful subs for the banana? Otherwise I’ll just try upping the flaxseed, and if that fails, maybe applesauce?

Alison, just leave it out! And maybe scale back on the flours since there will be less moisture. This is how I made the first batch and it honestly turned out AMAZING! It was just a little on the crumbly side. If you’re OK with that, go ahead!

Jackie, my blend does NOT have xanthan gum. I tried this recipe with and without it and it honestly didn’t make a difference. I actually liked the one WITHOUT it better! Hope that helps! Also, here’s my updated blend, by the way. I’ll add it to the recipe.